The Gothenburg Museum of Art – An Introduction to Nordic Artists and Beyond

Who? Anyone interested in art who has a few hours to see a collection of paintings and sculptures donated by the people of Gothenburg.

What? The Gothenburg Museum of Art located in the heart of the city.

How? Take a tram or bus to the museum. Details are provided below.

Stop: Götaplatsen, Valand/Avenyn.

Tram: 3, 7, 10

Bus: 18, 42, 58 & 158

Buy the museum pass for 40 Kroner and you will have access to 5 local museums for a whole year. Admission is free to those 25 years of age or younger. It is also good to have a 5 Kroner coin handy to stash away your bags in a locker.

Why? We love visiting art museums in every city that we visit. It gives us exposure to artists we have not heard of and gives us a chance to sample their work. The Gothenburg Museum of Art has a Nordic focus, but houses older Dutch and French art as well. Right now they also have a special exhibit entitled “Surrounding Bacon and Warhol”, featuring the work of two artists who worked at completely different creativity angles in the same time period. The special exhibit costs an extra 60 Kroners. Besides some very familiar pieces such as Warhol’s Marilyn Monroe and Bacon’s tribute to Van Gogh, the exhibit features work that ranges across the creativity spectrum of these two artists.

While there are many many paintings from a multitude of Nordic artists, what really caught my attention were two sculptures. The first was a huge sculpture of a pole dancer created in styrofoam and cast in plaster and another of a young boy who from the front looks like he is innocently peering across his desk and yet a closer look from the back reveals a crashed head.

PS. This museum has three stars in the Michelin Green Guide Scandinavia.